Bergen just broke a weather record from 1952: The number of consecutive days with precipitation in June. In 1952 it was 24. This year it was 26; we had rain every day from June 1 through June 26.
I pity those who will go through breaking this year's record because clouds and wet every single day gets really dreary and old.

So, the record-breaking weather wrapped up with heavy squalls during the night. I woke up early on the 27th, certain it was morning (as in, time to get up). It wasn't. It was only 4 am.

Granted, we have very short nights this time of year, but we hadn't noticed because it was cloudy all the time. Clouds are like curtains and when they finally disappeared, the night was suddenly too bright to sleep in.

I couldn't go back to sleep and read in bed until it was the "correct" time to get up. Outside my kitchen window was a rare sight: Bright spots of sunlight on the lawn, created by the morning sun reflecting off the uppermost windows of my apartment building.

I had left a corner of the curtain in my living room open, and a stripe of sunlight shone across the floor. Another neighbor's window was reflecting dawn into my apartment.

In spite of a month of rain, and loss of sleep, I felt yesterday morning was one of the best so far this summer. The absolutely clear sky and beams of sunlight energized me.